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Discovering Hanoi's Coffee Culture

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Hanoi, Vietnam's capital city. A leisurely sightseeing trip paired with delicious coffee made for a perfect experience.

Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is located in North Vietnam. Compared to Ho Chi Minh City in South Vietnam, which is extremely busy and highly developed commercially, Hanoi presents itself as an ancient city with traditional atmosphere. Because many important national institutions are located here, public security is well-maintained. During this trip, I stayed at a hotel near Hanoi's famous Hoan Kiem Lake and the renowned 36 Ancient Streets (Hanoi Old Quarter). Wandering among locals and foreign backpackers, I could observe Vietnam's local coffee culture up close while sightseeing, and understand how much it occupies in Vietnamese people's hearts.

Hanoi's 36 Ancient Streets

At first glance, Hanoi's streets bear some resemblance to Taiwan's – Asian-looking pedestrians, relatively narrow street designs, slightly cluttered street layouts, noisy and vibrant sounds day and night. However, there are still several distinctly different places from Taiwan – those unique Vietnamese characteristics that one will never forget after visiting for a few days.

First, the extremely chaotic traffic situation in specific areas and during peak hours is the most obvious and frequently mentioned Vietnamese street characteristic (with lingering fear). Vietnam has many roads, but they clearly cannot handle the continuously growing population and vehicles. Tourist areas and downtown regions are always very crowded, regardless of whether it's peak hour. Vietnamese roads are quite long, but traffic lights are rarely installed. Cars and motorcycles generally habitually crawl through traffic slowly and advance gradually. For short distances, they are accustomed to traffic consuming at least double the time suggested by Google Maps.

Moreover, motorcycle riders never miss any opportunity to enjoy their leisure and assert their presence. Even while riding, they can still use their phones (or drink Coke, or anything else you can do with one free hand) and press their horns at appropriate moments to inform all nearby pedestrians or vehicles. Horn sounds in local traffic serve as a communication method – they can inform pedestrians of impending passage, remind cars to pay attention to direction, or complain about serious traffic violations by others, unlike in Taiwan and many other places where horns usually serve as final warnings.

Various subtle horn sounds with different tones, frequencies, and meanings always emanate from all directions of the road. Vietnamese streets are never truly lonely.

Hanoi has few intersections and traffic lights. For someone wanting to cross the street, the most important tool is their own firm gaze and determination. When you look firmly at the road, maintain a steady pace, and don't fear the vehicles and motorcycles passing by you, locals will judge your movement speed, immediate position, and driving safety range, and make way for you at the most appropriate time to cross safely.

Feeling out of control in life? Want to experience Moses parting the Red Sea? Buy a Vietnam Airlines ticket to Vietnam, and you can continuously experience this thrill of traffic parting wherever you go. However, in areas unfamiliar with local traffic conditions, or where traffic is like mud regardless of time (such as tourist areas), it's still wise to be aware of your surroundings and pay extra attention! If injured and seeking medical treatment in Vietnam, foreigners must pay several times more than locals for medical expenses.

Vietnam's Coffee Culture

Besides transportation, the second aspect is the leisurely atmosphere and rich coffee aroma that permeates Vietnamese life.

Vietnamese lifestyle has been deeply influenced by France for a long time, and the ubiquitous coffee culture is a very obvious example. From the tourist-flooded 36 Ancient Streets to the relatively quiet French Old Quarter, wherever pedestrians pass, there are always several coffee shops or tea houses, with young and old people sitting in small groups drinking coffee and chatting.

Along the pedestrian streets, there are artistic coffee shops with open air conditioning, outdoor coffee seats, or street vendors with small stools. Besides the two most famous local coffee chains, Trung Nguyen and Highlands Coffee, there are also quite a few Taiwanese shops like Ding Tea and Chen San Ding that have opened tea drink shops in Hanoi, making some taste adjustments according to local preferences.

Local tastes lean toward heavier flavors. The sugar content in both hand-shaken drinks and canned teas sold in convenience stores is quite astonishing, and they often carry artificial flavoring. People accustomed to drinking lightly sweetened or unsweetened beverages must remember to carry a small bottle of water, otherwise throat dryness might kill the willpower for shopping faster than the heat (though Hanoi sometimes feels hotter than Taipei due to drier air).

Local Coffee Chains

Note: Official websites of the two major local coffee chains:

Trung Nguyen Coffee: http://www.trungnguyen.com.vn/

Highlands Coffee: http://www.highlandscoffee.com.vn/vi/home

During this trip to Hanoi, I visited a local-origin coffee chain "Cong Coffee" multiple times. The store design, filled with military green and communist atmosphere, is quite recognizable, and there's always a queue at the door for takeout.

Cong Coffee has several branches near Hanoi's 36 Ancient Streets (has expanded to Ho Chi Minh City). It's open until about midnight and offers many comfortable in-store seats, making it quite suitable for sitting down to drink coffee and chat when tired from shopping.

The above shows a large commercial Vietnamese drip coffee maker that can brew several cups of coffee at once. Later, while waiting for boarding at Noi Bai Airport, I also saw these in airport restaurants and cafes, so they must be quite common commercial equipment. Compared to the single-serve drip coffee maker we bought ourselves, this coffee maker, about the width of a regular juicer, is already enormous.

The local classic is black coffee drizzled with condensed milk to neutralize the strong bitter taste of concentrated Robusta (i.e., Coffee with condensed milk on the menu below). The taste is quite unique and very refreshing, but unfortunately not suitable for those who can't consume too much caffeine. For those who can only drink lattes and light black coffee, it's better to be careful not to drink too much Vietnamese coffee to avoid heart palpitations.

The above shows the classic iced coffee takeout. Since it's concentrated coffee liquid with condensed milk, the cup is only half full when received. Please prepare boiled water to quench your thirst.

One aspect I found quite puzzling was that Cong Coffee's coffee menu only has one page, but Cong Coffee does offer many other drink and snack choices. Local-produced peanuts with skin paired with rich coffee is very novel, but surprisingly suitable. If you have the chance to go to Vietnam, besides bringing back Vietnamese drip coffee makers, I also suggest bringing back several boxes of local nuts with skin to pair with coffee.

In-store iced coffee contains large amounts of crushed ice that slowly seep into the coffee, gradually harmonizing the overly thick bitter concentrated coffee liquid and sweet condensed milk, ultimately becoming just right for drinking without being overwhelming.

Compared to Cong Coffee, Trung Nguyen Coffee stores are mainly white and wood-themed, with decoration and design more like common coffee shops around the world. Unfortunately, this branch doesn't have many in-store seats.

The store offers various coffee powders from Trung Nguyen and its G7 series, as well as freshly ground coffee powder and branded Vietnamese coffee makers. You can first order a cup of coffee in the store before deciding which coffee powder to purchase.

Vietnamese Coffee Beans

Note: Vietnamese Coffee Beans

Vietnam is currently the world's largest coffee exporting country. Most exported coffee beans are Robusta beans used for making instant coffee, such as the world-famous G7 series instant coffee produced by Trung Nguyen (available at PX Mart), rather than Arabica beans often used as single-origin or specialty coffee (Brazil is the world's largest Arabica exporter).

Robusta coffee trees are suitable for growing in tropical Asian climates and are less limited by planting environment. Their coffee taste often carries acidity and has a strong aroma, with caffeine content around 2%-4%. Arabica coffee trees are suitable for growing in Africa, Central, and South America, and are also cultivated in northern Vietnam. They have richer flavor layers and abundant aroma, with caffeine content around 1%-2%.

For more detailed coffee bean comparisons, please visit: http://www.foodnext.net/news/newssafe/paper/4357981492

In Vietnam, because the most popular Vietnamese drip coffee brewing method uses coffee powder, most coffee brands value coffee powder more than coffee beans.

The above shows coffee-related products sold in one of Hanoi's supermarkets. You can find that Vietnamese people mainly consume two related products: instant coffee and coffee powder. Compared to coffee beans that require grinders and haven't been ground yet, coffee powder that can be quickly brewed with drip coffee makers clearly has the advantage and better meets daily needs. Common flavors include Culi (bitterish Robusta and Arabica blend) and Moka (mild Arabica beans), as well as unique coffee blends from various brands.

Influenced by French colonization, Vietnamese coffee makers extract coffee using drip methods, similar to the rich mouthfeel brought by French press. Therefore, Vietnamese coffee is usually quite strong. Coffee makers are mostly single-serve small pots. For example, the second and third layers above show Vietnamese drip coffee makers sold in Hanoi markets (about VND 30,000-50,000 = TWD 40-70). Due to the prevalence of Vietnamese coffee makers, the market mainly deals in coffee powder. For example, the most famous Highlands Coffee and Trung Nguyen Coffee only sell coffee powder in supermarkets or Lotte Malls, not coffee beans.

Vietnamese coffee makers come in various choices. This time I purchased a Trung Nguyen Vietnamese coffee maker (about VND 50,000 = TWD 70). The aluminum body is quite lightweight and exquisitely beautiful.

Vietnamese coffee makers consist of four parts: coffee maker lid, body, press plate, and bottom plate.

Before making coffee, you should first wash or rinse the coffee maker with boiled water. Because Vietnamese drip coffee makers usually extract relatively concentrated coffee liquid, the coffee stains inside the body in the picture below are a painful lesson from not cleaning immediately after use.

Vietnamese Drip Coffee Brewing Method

Vietnamese drip coffee brewing is quite simple and convenient, so locals often drink several cups of coffee a day. The steps are briefly summarized below: (you can also watch the instructional video made by others below!)

*If you want to drink authentic Vietnamese coffee, remember to add some condensed milk to the coffee cup before extracting the coffee liquid, and prepare ice cubes to add after coffee extraction

1. Place the entire Vietnamese coffee maker set over your favorite cup
2. Open the lid and take out the press plate
3. Pour in an appropriate amount of any coffee powder you like (usually about 10g for one cup of coffee)
4. Press and flatten the coffee powder with the press plate, then inject an appropriate amount of hot water to fully moisten the coffee powder
5. Pour in hot water again until you reach your desired coffee concentration
6. Cover with the lid, place the coffee cup aside, and wait for the slow drip extraction of coffee

After a short wait, you can then enjoy a cup of rich Vietnamese coffee, but be careful not to be choked by the concentrated taste and some coffee powder! When the coffee filtration is complete, you can also place the lid upside down pressed under the bottom plate to avoid coffee powder staining the tabletop.

Friends who are afraid of excessive caffeine content or sour and bitter mixed flavors can of course use coffee powder made from Arabica to brew. Try using different coffee equipment to enjoy another unique tasting method!

FrontStreet Coffee: A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online shop services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473